Val and Tara

HELLLOOOO!!! So, today we finally got to go the hospital and actually observe and learn things about our desired fields of study. This morning, Val went to Obstetrics and learned that a lot of the women here wait a long time before coming in if they have any gynaecological issues. Most women here don't ever get regular check-ups. The main issue that Val discovered was that they can't provide the exact neccessary care for some of the patients because most of the patients are way to poor and can't afford the correct medical attention. Then, there was a women who had jaundice, hypertension, edema, and Hepatitis B and was 32 weeks pregnant. She had already started having contractions but was unaware of this. She came into the hospital and the Dr.s weren't even sure if the baby was still alive. Believe it or not, Val was in the room the ENTIRE time! They are incredibly laid back here with us students being in the room. They actually tell us to come in and see everything they are doing. They don't have any HIPPA privacy laws. So, anyways, the lady was rushed to a delivery room and her baby was suctioned out with a vaccum because they lady was too weak and sick to push. The baby was tiny but she made it and was rushed to Neonatal ICU where Val was able to visit it a couple times throughout the day. Tara's morning experience in the hospital was in Surgery. She started with changing into scrubs and of course, changing into the required flip flops. After that, without even washing her hands, she was taken into a surgical room where a man was being operated on for his prostate. The Dr. was very discriptive and informative about what was happening and was excited to educate us about this man's situation. After the procedure was finished, Tara was taken into a room where a man was having a sort of bypass surgery, where his stomache was being attached to the jejunum by bypassing the duodenum (the intestines). This was due to having ulcers caused by bacteria, spicy food, and stress. This was a rare surgery because usually ulcers can be treated with medication such as electron pump drugs. The Dr.'s were very informative, along with the anesthesiologist who went step by step with Tara into how they put the patient under. One step was using truth serum, a medicine used in different doses to make criminals confess the truth, which may potentially be illegal in the United States. Even here in India, the information gathered through the truth serum cannot be used in court. After that surgery Tara got to watch an endoscopy which is using a fiberoptic camera inserted through the throat to look for ulcers in the upper digestive system. Throughout all procedures, the Dr.'s did not even seem to think twice that Tara was there, asking her questions about herself and where she came from. Then, after lunch, both Tara and Val went back to the hospital to see what they thought was going to be a Cesarian section, but it turned out that she was having it naturally! We got there just in time to see a beautiful baby boy being delivered! The sanitation is obviously very different here, but the Dr.'s are very knowledgable about this and know that the U.S. has different standards. The whole time, Val held the mom's hand and at the end was able to hold onto the brand new baby! The mom was very greatful to have us in there! The Dr.'s were very interested to know how the U.S. differs in delivering babies and so we gave them a basic run down of what we knew. So, afterwards we visited the Neonatal and the Pediatric ICU where we saw many small babies and sick little kids. We visited the one Val watched being delivered this morning, and we were very happy to find it doing well! We saw a baby that was born weighing 1.8 kg and was still in ICU 12 days later, but she is growing and will be just fine! There was also a baby that was having convulsions. This baby is prospering and will be taken to finally breast feed from the mother tomorrow. It was amazing to see the babies being delivered and then to see how well they are doing in the ICU and how important it is to the Indian hospitals to get the baby returned to the mothers as soon as possible to start breast feeding. All mothers that are able to breast feed are asked to nurse their baby one hour after birth.
Today was an amazing day and we learned SO much! We really appreciate the Indian education system where we are allowed to learn hands on. The Dr.'s are so eager to teach us and we couldn't ask for more!